Locks



Feb. 22, 1966 J. F. WELLEKENS 3,235,076

LOCKS Filed July 21, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ill F 2 INVENTOR.

John EWeLLekens 2 1 BY diforrggy J. F. WELLEKENS Feb. 22, 1966 LOCKS z Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 21, 1964 5 mn W e IK VG NL 1L e E1 n h 0 J United States Patent 3,236,076 LOCKS John F. Wellekens, New York, N.Y., assignor to Hotel Security Systems Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 21, 1964, Ser. No. 384,150 Claims. (Cl. 70-134) This invention relates to locks, and more particularly to a type of lock so constructed that the arrangement of tumbler-engaging abutments can be changed when desired to thereby adapt the lock for the acceptance of differently-contoured keys. A lock of the type used as a part of the present invention is shown, for example, in my co-pending patent application Ser. No. 355,011.

The advantage of being able to quickly change the combination of a lock is known since the prevention of theft can often be done by a change of the combination of the lock and particularly when such a change can be speedily made and with a minimum of efifort.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide a look in which the combination can be readily changed to enable the lock to be responsive to any one of a large number of differently-contoured keys.

It is an object of the invention to provide a lock which will be particularly useful for employment on the coin receptacles of parking meters and various other enclosures and especially those of the type which are constantly being broken open and the contents pilfered by dishonest persons managing to surreptitiously secure the required key or a copy thereof. It is an object of the invention to provide means by which the lock-operating elements, such as the tumblers and abutments of the lock, can be quickly removed as a unit and adjusted for the acceptance of a differently-contoured key and then replaced on the door or cover, all of which can be done without requiring the use of tools, so that the change of the combination of the lock will be efiiciently and speedily performed and much of the present-day pilfering can be thus avoided.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein embodiments of the invention are disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a door or cover member for the coin receptacle of a parking meter or other enclosure provided with a lock constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the same;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View through the inner stationary lock sleeve;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the outer or rotatable cam sleeve;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the cam sleeve;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of another type of parking meter coin receptacle cover member, with a slightly different form of lock applied thereto;

FIG. 7 is a detail view, showing how an inwardlyprojecting lug on the cam sleeve engages with a notch in the inner stationary sleeve and with a portion of the lock mechanism, the view being taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view through the structure of FIG. 6, but with the tumbler and abutment mechanism of the lock omitted in order to more clearly disclose the construction of the concentric sleeves;

FIG. 9 is an enlarge-d rear view of the inner or stationary sleeve with the lock mechanism contained within it;

FIG. 10 is a rear view of the rotative cam sleeve as employed in the structure of FIGS. 6 and 8;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 1111 of FIG. 10, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 12 is a sectional view through a part of the inner or stationary sleeve showing how the same is maintained in a definite position when it is screwed into the door or cover member.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 5 thereof, there is there shown at 1, a door or cover plate for the coin receptacle of a parking meter or other enclosure. The door or cover may be hingedly connected to the body of the meter in any known manner or it may be made bodily removable from the meter when access to the coin receptacle thereof is required. These doors or covers are made in a number of different shapes according to the design of the meter, that shown at 1 being substantially rectangular, while that shown at 2 in FIGS. 6 and 8 being round.

A keyhole opening 3 extends substantially centrally through the door or cover 1 and the same communicates with an internally threaded circular recess 4 extending partly through the door, said recess threadably engaging the threads 5 on the inner sleeve 6 which projects rearwardly from the back of the door. Said inner sleeve 6, when threaded in position in the door or cover 1 as shown in FIG. 2, is non-rotative or stationary and is held in a fixed and definite position when threaded in the recess 4 of the door, by means of a washer 8 (FIG. 12) secured to the back of the door 1 by means of a screw 9, and which washer enters an arcuate notch 10 provided in the periphery of the sleeve 6.

Rotatively arranged around the inner stationary sleeve 6 and concentric thereto is a cam sleeve shown at 12, the same being provided with radially-projecting cams shown respectively at 13 and 14. The slidable bolt 15 of the lock is in the form of a rectangular plate having a central opening 16 through which the concentric sleeves 6 and 12 extend. At the opposite ends of the opening 16 the bolt 15 is formed with laterally-projecting lugs 17. In the operation of the lock one of said lugs 17 becomes engaged by the cam 13 and the other lug engaged by the cam 14. It is obvious that when the sleeve 12 is rotated in one direction by the action of the lock mechanism 7 contained in the sleeve 6, under the turning movement of the key 18, the cam 14 will lift the bolt 15 to the advanced or locking position shown in full lines in FIG. 1, and when the key is turned in the opposite direction, cam 13, engaging the lower lug 17, will retract the bolt as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 1. The bolt is guided in its sliding movement by means of a large-head screw 19 which is threaded part way through the door or cover member 1, said screw extending through an elongated slot in the bolt 15. This arrangement is such that in the event of the lock becoming damaged to an extent to prevent it from being normally responsive to its key, a hole can be drilled through the door or cover member at a required location or one that is aligned with the screw 19 to thereby enable the screw to be reached and unthreaded to then allow the bolt 15 to be removed and the door or cover member thereupon opened. The location of the screw 19 is not visible on the outside of the door and its position will be known only to an authorized person provided with a template to indicate the drilling point to reach the screw 19.

The lock mechanism '7 may be that shown substantially in my co-pending application Serial No. 355,011 and is one which has a plurality of tumbler-abutments 30' which are individually rotatively adjustable relative to one another to set selected combinations of the tumblers for the acceptance of any one of a large number of differentlycontoured keys. When the lock mechanism 7 is removed as a unit from the inside of the inner sleeve 6, the abutments 30 of the lock can then be manually and independently rotated to set them for the desired combination cfor the acceptance of a particular key. The lock mechanism is then returned as a unit to the interior of the sleeve 6 and it will thereafter be responsive only to that particular key until it is again removed from the sleeve 6 and has its combination re-adjusted for another key. The details of this type of lock are set forth in my said co-pending application and the present invention primarily relates to the manner in which the lock mechanism is mounted and by which it can 'be readily removed at any time when it is desired to effect a change in the combination of the lock.

The lock mechanism 7 is provided at its rear end with a circular part 22 formed with a notch 23 which engages with a lug 24 formed on the cam sleeve 12 and extending radially toward the interior of the same as shown in FIG. 4. The part 22 is that part of the lock mechanism 7 which turns when the key 18 is turned. Thus, by turning the key 18, the part 22 will be rotatively moved. The lug 24 projects through a notch 25 provided in the rear end of the stationary sleeve 6, the ends of said notch constituting stops which limit the turning movement of the cam sleeve 12 with respect to the stationary sleeve 6 by contact with the lug 24. The lock mechanism 7 is retained inside of the sleeve 6 solely by means of a wishbone clip or spring 26 which engages in an annular groove 27 formed in the interior of the sleeve 6 closely adjacent to its rear end. Said clip or spring is readily manually removable when it is desired to slide the lock mechanism rearwardly out of the sleeve 6 to adjust it for a new key.

From the foregoing, the operation of the lock will be readily understood. When the abutments 30 of the lock have been adjusted for a particular key, the lock mechanism is then placed within the sleeve 6 and the wishbone retaining clip or spring 26 is fitted in the groove 27 to hold the lock mechanism 7 in said sleeve and against rearward displacement. The abutments 30 of the lock mechanism 7 are peripherally grooved to hold them against rotation or movement relatively to one another while the lock mechanism is confined in the sleeve 6, said aligned grooves in the abutments 30 engaging a rib 31 (FIG. 3) provided on the interior of the sleeve 6 to hold the abutments in their required adjustment for the acceptance of a particular key. When the lock mechanism 7 is fitted within the inner sleeve 6 as above explained, the notch 23 provided in the lock part 22, will become engaged with the lug 24.. Hence when the lock part 22 is rotatively moved in one direction by the turning of the key 18, it will rotate the cam sleeve 12 and the cam 14, engaging against the upper lug 17, will advance the bolt to its locking position. Similarly, when the key is turned in the opposite direction the cam 13, engaging against the lower lug 17, will retract the bolt. When it is desired to change the combination of the lock mechanism, the wishbone clip or spring 26 is removed and the lock mechanism 7 is then slid rearwardly as a unit out of the rear end of the sleeve 6; the abutments 30 are then rotatively adjusted as required for the acceptance of a different key; the lock mechanism is then slid back into the sleeve 6 with the aligned notches in the abutments engaging the rib 31 and with the notch 23 engaging the lug 24. The wishbone clip or spring 26 is then fitted in its groove 27 to thereby confine the lock mechanism 7 within the sleeve 6 and the lock is then ready for use with its new key. It will thus be apparent from the foregoing that the changing of the combination of the lock can be speedily and efiectively performed and without requiring a substitution of lock parts or the use of tools.

In the structure shown in FIGS. 6 to 12, a slightly modified form of lock is shown. In this arrangement the inner stationary sleeve 6a is quite similar to that shown in FIG. 3, and the sleeve 6a is also threadably mounted in the door or cover member 2 in substantially the same manner. Said sleeve (in is encircled by a rotative cam plate 32, shown in detail in FIGS. 10 and 11. Such cam plate is provided with a sleeve portion having an inwardlydirected lug 24 as was described in connection with the previous embodiment, and said lug has its end engaging with the notch 23 provided in the rotatable lock part 22 also as previously described. The cam sleeve 32 has a radial flange or plate portion 33 formed with curved cam slots 3d in which projecting pins 35, extending respectively from two bolts 36, extend. This arrangement is such that when the cam sleeve 32 is rotated in one direction the bolts 36, under the influence of the cam slots 34 on the pins 35, will be advanced or moved away from one another toward locking position. When the cam sleeve 32. is rotated in the opposite direction the bolts will be retracted or move to open position.

The bolts 36 are slidably guided by straps 37 provided on a back plate 38 secured to the back of the door or cover member 2 by means of screws 39 entering posts 40 formed on the back of the door.

The arrangement of the cam sleeve 32 relative to the stationary sleeve 6a is similar to that described in respect to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. That is to say, by the removal of the wishbone clip or spring 26, the lock mechanism 7 can be removed as a unit from within the sleeve 6a, then adjusted for a different key; then replaced in the sleeve 6a and the spring or clip 26 snapped back in the groove 27 to retain the locking mechanism in place.

In both of the embodiment of the invention, the lock combination can be quickly changed and the lock replaced in its required operating position on the door without the use of tools so that when a substantial number of parking meters require a change of the combinations for their locks, this can be effected with a minimum loss of time and efiort.

Having thus described embodiments of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A lock including a closure member, a sleeve fixedly mounted on said closure member and projecting from the rear of the same, said sleeve being slotted, a rotatable sleeve arranged around the fixed sleeve, a lock mechanism contained within the fixed sleeve, said mechanism including a part that is rotatable through the operation of a key, a projection on the interior of the rotatable sleeve directed inwardly through the slot in the fixed sleeve entering into the fixed sleeve, the rotatable part of the lock mechanism being engaged by the projection, whereby the rotatable sleeve will be rotated when the part of the lock mechanism is rotated, at least one bolt actuated by the movement of the rotatable sleeve, and means engaging the fixed sleeve at the rear of the lock mechanism to retain the lock mechanism within the fixed sleeve.

2. A lock having a closure member, a fixed sleeve projecting from the rear of the same, a rotatable sleeve arranged concentrically around the fixed sleeve, a lock mechanism contained within the fixed sleeve, said lock mechanism including a part that is rotatable through the operation of a key inserted in the lock mechanism, a projection on the interior of the rotatable sleeve extending inwardly therefrom and entering into the fixed sleeve, the fixed sleeve having an arcuate notch through which said projection passes, the rotatable part of the lock mechanism being engaged by the projection whereby the rotatable sleeve will be rotated when the part of the lock mechanism is rotated by key operation, the ends of the notch limiting the rotatable movement of the rotatable sleeve, the rotatable sleeve including cam means, a bolt actuated by the action of said cam means when the rotatable sleeve is rotated, and a removable clip engaging the fixed sleeve at the rear of the lock mechanism to retain the lock mechanism confined within the fixed sleeve.

3. A lock having a closure member such as the cover of a parking meter coin receptacle, said cover having a rearwardly-projecting fixed tubular sleeve, having a notched rear end, a rotatable outer sleeve concentrically arranged around the fixed sleeve, a slidable bolt, cam means on the rotatable sleeve engaging the bolt for advancing or retracting the same, a lock mechanism disposed Within the fixed sleeve, said lock mechanism having a key-controlled rotative part, a lug on the interior of the rotatable sleeve disposed radially of the same for engagement in the notch of the fixed sleeve to enter said keycontrolled part of the lock mechanism whereby the rotation of said part by key-manipulation will rotate the rotative sleeve and will actuate the bolt, the ends of the notch limiting the rotative movement of the rotative sleeve and removable means fitted in the rear end of the fixed sleeve for maintaining the lock mechanism in operative position in said fixed sleeve, said means being the sole means for retaining the lock mechanism in place in said fixed sleeve.

4. A lock comprising a door or similar closure having a fixed sleeve projecting from its rear face, said sleeve having an arcuate notch in its inner end, an outer boltactuating rotative sleeve arranged outside of the fixed sleeve, a lock mechanism disposed within the fixed sleeve, removable lock-retaining means fitted in the fixed sleeve behind the lock mechanism to retain the lock mechanism in said sleeve, said mechanism being removable from within the fixed sleeve by the removal of said retaining means, and a projection on the inside of the rotative sleeve passing through the notch in the fixed sleeve and engaging in the lock mechanism, the ends of the notch forming stops against which the projection contacts upon the rotative movement of the rotative sleeve.

5. A lock comprising, a door or similar closure having a rearWardly-projecting fixed sleeve having an arcuate notch at one end, an outer bolt-actuating rotative sleeve concentrically arranged on the outside of the fixed sleeve, a lock mechanism disposed within the fixed sleeve, a removable clip fitted within the fixed sleeve behind the lock mechanism to retain said lock mechanism in said sleeve, said lock mechanism being removable from within the fixed sleeve by the removal of the retaining clip, a projection on the inside of the rotative sleeve directed inwardly and passing through the fixed arcuate notch in the sleeve and engaging in the lock mechanism, the rotative sleeve having a radial flange provided with cam slots, and bolts having pins engaged in said slots whereby the bolts will be advanced or retracted by the rotative movements of the outer sleeve.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,979,805 11/1934 Main -365 X 2,012,735 8/1935 Swartz 70-116 X 2,012,996 9/1935 Jacobi 70-370 X 2,217,775 10/1940 Smith 70-168 2,948,141 9/1960 Vahlstrom 70-370 3,199,321 9/1965 Sollenberger 70-370 X FOREIGN PATENTS 64,248 1/ 1946 Denmark.

JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner.

BOBBY R. GAY, Examiner. 

1. A LOCK INCLUDING A CLOSURE MEMBER, A SLEEVE FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID CLOSURE MEMBER AND PROJECTING FROM THE REAR OF THE SAME, SAID SLEEVE BEING SLOTTED, A ROTATABLE SLEEVE ARRANGED AROUND THE FIXED SLEEVE, A LOCK MECHANISM CONTAINED WITHIN THE FIXED SLEEVE, SAID MECHANISM INCLUDING A PART THAT IS ROTATABLE THROUGH THE OPERATION OF A KEY, A PROJECTION ON THE INTERIOR OF THE ROTATABLE SLEEVE DIRECTED INWARDLY THROUGH THE SLOT IN THE FIXED SLEEVE ENTERING INTO THE FIXED SLEEVE, THE ROTATABLE PART OF THE LOCK MECHANISM BEING ENGAGED BY THE PROJECTION, WHEREBY THE ROTATABLE SLEEVE WILL BE ROTATED WHEN THE PART OF THE LOCK MECHANISM IS ROTATED, AT LEAST ONE BOLT ACTUATED BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE ROTATABLE SLEEVE, AND MEANS ENGAGING THE FIXED SLEEVE AT THE REAR OF THE LOCK MECHANISM TO RETAIN THE LOCK MECHANISM WITHIN THE FIXED SLEEVE. 